You know you have cystic fibrosis when...

You know you are a CFer when....

You can tell the nurses exactly which vein to put the peripheal IV in

You can rattle off the whole list of meds you take while the triage nurse in the ER looks glazed and confused and doesn't know what some of them are

You go the doctor and can tell them the precise location in which lung is causing your problems

You know your heart rate, oxygen sat and FEV1 better than most people know their telephone number and address

You were diagnosed with osteopenia (precursor to osteoporosis) at 16

You glow in the dark from all the ct scans and xrays (seriously I had 5 chest xrays over a 4.5 day period)

You travel with antibiotic and steroid prescriptions along with your doctors card and cell phone number

you swear you are going to quit seeing doctors because every time they find something else wrong

You are the only non pregnant woman having a glucose tolerance test

Your list of doctors takes up a lot of room on forms and your list of meds takes up pages

Needle sticks and IVs don't bother you but you hate nasal cannulas

You redo your room and your biggest problem is where to store your medical equipment and medication

You've spend the better part of 13 years on steroids

You can tell the nurses that you have to have your IV zofran before your IV solumedrol and dose of antibiotics

You are on first name basis with the RT department at your hospital

Hour long breathing treatments are second nature and possibly the most boring part of any hospital stay or ER visit

You frequently have to replace PC keyboards because of salt build up from your fingers, your medical alert bracelet info keeps getting eroded and real gold turns green after coming into contact with your skin

Your dogs and cat think you are their personal salt lick

Your daily salt intake would give anyone else a heart attack or stroke

You don't worry until your pulse goes over 150

Your doctor has ever started a conversation with "at your age we have to be so careful"

You know the difference between crackles, wheezes, rhonchi and pleural rubs

You take ibuprofen like candy

It takes a lot of medication to sedate you for procedures

You keep a bag packed just in case

When you travel you have 2x as much luggage as everyone else and most of it is CF stuff

You have ventolin inhalers and enzymes in every bag

Being overweight is a GOOD thing

You get sick of people telling you to eat

Your electrolytes are always out of whack

You get sick of people telling you to drink or your gonna get it through an IV or eat if you want to go home

Albuterol no longer raises your heart rate or makes you shake

You sleep atleast 2x as much as a normal person

You always have a low grade fever and elevated white count

At 26 you have CF related arthritis, osteopenia, heart problems and crappy lungs

When you cough and people stare you are tempted to tell them its just your TB flaring up